Saskatchewan Throne Speech - A New Beginning

The freshly re-elected Saskatchewan government unveiled their priorities for the coming legislative session in yesterday’s Throne Speech, emphasizing a "new beginning. The speech highlighted the government’s commitment to economic growth, innovation, and key commitments around affordability, child care, healthcare, and education. Since the election, which saw the Saskatchewan Party form their fifth straight majority, Premier Moe has continued to signal that his government has taken lessons from the voters, which saw the Saskatchewan Party nearly wiped out in both Regina and Saskatoon. "Many Saskatchewan people voted to re-elect our government to keep our economy strong and our future bright, while many others voted for change," Moe said. "My government will deliver both." 

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Key points from the Throne Speech included:

• Focusing on Growth: Growth and prosperity have been at the core of the previous Saskatchewan Party Governments’ agendas. Yesterday’s speech reiterated a commitment of working to achieve the targets set out in the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth. Growth and economic development will enable the government to keep their election promises on investments, services, keeping taxes low, and making life more affordable.    
• Healthcare Improvements: The government is prioritizing the expansion and improvement of healthcare services, including new investments in hospitals, mental health services, and reducing wait times. The government committed to shorten surgical wait times by ensuring that 450,000 surgeries are performed over the next four years as well as expanding coverage for glucose monitoring to seniors ages 65 and older and young adults ages 25 and under. The government has also committed to increased access to urgent care and a Health Human Resources Action Plan to ensure adequate staffing levels. Additionally the government is aiming to have access to primary care for all residents by 2028. 
• Education & Child Care: The government promised to expand its specialized support classroom pilot to 200 more schools throughout the province and to focus on improving reading levels, specifically in Kindergarten to Grade 3, hiring more teachers and educational support staff, and the construction of five new schools and increased funding for school divisions to support a growing population. The government has committed to the creation of 12,000 new child care spaces next fiscal year;
• Affordability & Family Support: The government is proud to be the most affordable jurisdiction in Canada. To maintain this they outlined tax cuts in yesterday’s speech including increasing the basic personal exemption and increased spousal, children, and seniors exemptions. All together this will save a family of four $3,400 annually and remove 54,000 individuals from paying any provincial income tax. The government will continue to oppose the federal carbon tax and will renew SaskPowers offset of the carbon tax. Other measures outlined were a first time home buyers credit and a home renovation tax credit.   
• Vibrant Communities: The government will provide funding to local chambers of commerce to support entrepreneurs with grants, increase revenue share to local governments,increase the Graduate Retention Program benefit, and provide funding for local sports programs.  
• Safer Communities:  The government will fund 500 more police officers, make legislative changes to allow for officers to deal with properties that are causing community disturbances, new regulatory and legislative changes to address dispute behavior on public property, and funding for 500 new recovery spaces for those living with addiction issues; and 

“Yesterday’s Throne Speech mirrors the Saskatchewan Party’s re-election commitments” said Tyler Willox, Upstream’s Principal for Western Canada, who also noted that the “additional focus of creating a more respectful legislative assembly is a nod to Premier Moe’s promise to deliver continuity with change.”

Following the Throne Speech, the Legislature is expected to sit for a short legislative session before the house rises once again for the holidays. 

With the government highlighting their priorities and reiterating a commitment to deliver on initiatives that will appeal beyond their political base, now is an ideal time to plan your advocacy efforts. Upstream would be pleased to discuss how we can help move your file in Saskatchewan. 

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